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Conquering Fantasy: Ex-Interstellar Army Tale (English Version)

Chapter 1

Landing

(Published on 22/11/2024)

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Naruto POV

I still couldn't accept the fact that the mysterious attack and the deaths of my comrades were a reality. While on the ship, I had only obeyed the instructions given by Kaguya. However, now, I was the only one who survived the incident. The faces of my comrades and my commander reappeared one by one inside my head, and involuntarily, tears began to stream down my face.

'Damn it!'

Suddenly, the escape pod I was travelling in began to shake violently.

'What happened?' I asked, still shrouded in grief.

The AI of the rescue capsule, which was currently entering the atmosphere, replied:

[No problems have occurred. Everything is in accordance with the calculations.]

The shaking was getting stronger.

'Hoi, is there really no problem?'

[No problems were found. Everything is in accordance with the calculations.]

And again, the shaking grew stronger.

'Hoi!'

[No problems were found. Everything is in accordance with the calculations.]

Of course something went wrong! Even though it's a disposable rescue capsule, the AI shouldn't answer like that. Maybe the AI had a malfunction or something. If I recall, I've never heard of a rescue capsule being used directly to land on a planet. I'll have to ask the nano-machine about of Form

'Kurama, how many cases have rescue capsules landed on a planet in the last thousand years?' I asked.

Kurama, the name I gave the nano-machine, replied.

[There have been 17 times in the past thousand years. The most recent record is 314 years ago.]

There were only a dozen cases, as I expected. Well, I guess it's natural considering that battles don't usually occur near a planet. I wonder, how much time has passed? When I finally lost my sense of time, the shaking suddenly subsided.

As the thrusters activated and the rotation stopped. After a while, a pounding came along with a thud. Then, I heard a gushing sound. Was something leaking?

'What now?' I asked.

[The parachute was successfully released, but there seemed to be an open tear in a certain part due to the shock earlier.]

A tear opened just because the parachute was removed?! I'm completely sure this isn't up to Federation standards.

'Is there a problem with the parachute?' I asked again. [No problem was found. Twenty-five minutes to reach the planet's surface.]

Even if you say so, it's still a bit worrying.

'Hey, capsule. What's the name of your home factory?'

[Michael Heavy Industries.]

Ah, I see.

'Michael Heavy Industries' is a long-established arms supply company, but a few years ago a serious defect was discovered in one of their products, causing various problems that almost put the company out of business. And I'm pretty sure that this rescue capsule I'm in is also one of their defective products.

'Isn't there a problem with the landing?!'

[No problems were found. There was plenty of oxygen left.]

'Wait! So we lost a lot of oxygen too?!'

[No problem found. There is enough oxygen left.]

Damn it, she's beyond help-wait, that's it!

'Is it possible to breathe outside?'

[The air outside allows for breathing. The parameters are within safe standards.]

Yes, that's a bit of a relief. At least I don't have to worry about the air on this planet.

When I was about to check the view outside the capsule through the external monitor. Again, the capsule's damn AI gave a warning that instantly made me want to punch it.

[We will land on the water surface in one minute.]

'What do you mean landing on water?!'

[The landing point is above the surface of the lake.]

'Change the landing point right now!'

The thrusters were activated once again.

[It is not possible to change the landing point. The main thrusters only work in a zero-gravity environment.]

I was really getting annoyed with this damn AI.

'Can this capsule float on water?'

[Negative. There are cracks in some parts. There is a high risk of water ingress.]

I just found that out.

[We're landing now.]

We hit the surface of the lake quite hard. I hurriedly unbuckled my seatbelt and started preparing to leave the capsule.

I carried a backpack, a pulse rifle, a laser pistol, an electromagnetic knife, a pouch containing a processor module, a military uniform, work clothes, and two blankets. This was quite a lot.

I couldn't bring a mineral water bottle with me. I didn't have much choice but to bet on the lake water, hopefully it would be drinkable. Otherwise, carrying a mineral water bottle would only increase my risk of death.

I stuffed the laser pistol, processor module, uniform, and work clothes into my backpack and wore them on my back. I also strapped the fulse rifle to my shoulder.

The blanket was wrapped around both of them, so I carried those things by strapping them to my head and each of my arms.

I went back to checking the situation outside through the external monitor. Damn it! This piece of junk was really going to sink.

'Open the door!' I shouted.

The moment the door opened, some water began to enter the capsule and flood the entire space in there. I somehow managed to grasp the edge of the door and pull myself out of the capsule.

Air, of course, was no problem.

From what I could see, the edge of the lake was about seven metres ahead. Quite a distance if you had to swim. But for her, the blanket rolled up on both sides of my arms was made of water-repellent material so it could help me to stay floating on the surface of the water. Then, I swam and reached the edge of the lake in about three or four minutes.

Finally! I was glad that it was still daytime. If I had landed at night, I'm sure I would have had quite a lot of trouble.

I checked the surroundings. The local vegetation seemed quite familiar to the ones I had seen on the planet. It was dominated by the colour green and had the same shape as the plants I already knew. You could even say it somehow reminded me of my home planet. But what should I do now?

As I thought about it, I realised something important. From the very beginning, the reason why I was forced to flee to this planet was the loss of the ship's ability to retain oxygen and Kaguya needed time to repair it.

This is really bad news!

Without the communication device inside the rescue capsule, I wouldn't be able to contact Kaguya.

'Rescue capsule, respond! Please respond!' I shouted.

It was useless. I shouted several times but there was still no response. After all, was the capsule waterproof from the start? I should have confirmed it first. Wait. It could survive in an airtight environment so it should also work in water. But I can't put too much hope in that piece of rubbish.

Worst case, I'll have to figure out how to lift the rescue capsule out of the water. But that's completely impossible if I do it alone. Should I make contact with the local lifeforms and ask for their help? That's the only way I can think of right now.

Wait a minute!

I finally realised something. Why lower my guard in a place like this? This place is like a battlefield. Wild creatures often reside within the lake. I quickly picked up my rifle in an alert position. This place was really similar to where I came from, so I unconsciously lost my guard. For now, I need to get out of here and find a safe place to take cover.

I found something that looks like hills so I'll head there.

The hill is quite large, with a rocky formation that has a diameter of less than ten metres and a height of five metres. Okay, the place is pretty good, the view is open. The potential for assassins to ambush me is also small, and I have a rifle. That meant I had more of an advantage.

I checked the surrounding area and noticed something falling from the sky. I recognised it immediately. I had seen something like this from the top of a holobit several times.

They were on fire, many small objects were burning and falling not only to the south, but also the north and the western sky as well. Ah! Isn't that the debris from the destroyed star ship.

'Uh... so it didn't work at all?'

Kaguya stated that the chance of the ship's reconstruction being successful was 53%. Although the chances were only slightly above 50%, I really believed that it would work somehow. Even if the chances were only 50:50, I could not imagine that Kaguya would fail.

Is there any other explanation for this incident other than Kaguya's failure in ship reconstruction? No, dumping foreign materials onto a planet is a serious crime in military rules. Moreover, Kaguya would not have dropped those things on purpose since she knew I was still trapped here.

'Uh...'

No other words could come out of my mouth. The wreckage of the ship continued to fall, like a comet raining down during the day. I could even see the small mist lifted from the ground as they fell to the ground. I looked up at the sky and felt a tightness in my chest.

Kaguya, my comrades, and my commanders... everything was just gone. I feel scared and unsure if I can do anything on my own on this planet. However, I have no choice but to continue my life here. I must find food and water, and find a way to survive for as long as I can. I had to get moving.

I looked around and realised that I had no idea where to go. I only knew one thing: I had to find a way out of this forest.

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